Modelling as a Method of Analytical History

Its Use in the Study of Human Capital Formation

Abstract

The article focuses on the qualitative method of schematization. Schemes are commonly used in teaching to illustrate the theoretical material but, as the article shows, they can also serve as an effective research tool since they are verbally concise, visually accessible and systemically organized. Schemes help researchers highlight the aspects that are crucial for understanding the nature of a given phenomenon and reveal the key structural, functional and causal relationships. The potential of schematization as a research method is illustrated by the authors' own experience of modelling the structure and processes of human capital formation in an industrial city. Modelling brings to light the specific characteristics of different stages in the transition from traditional to industrial and post-industrial society. Modelling is based on the assumption that each historical period has its own socio-demographic profile, which can be summarized in the notion of human potential. Each period is characterized by specific scenarios of human potential being transformed into human capital or quasi-capital. Our study uses models in the form of flowcharts supplied with descriptions. The models help us conceptualize the historical analysis of human capital formation in an industrial city during modernization. They prove to be particularly useful for addressing the tasks that constitute the first stage of a historical study.